Internet browser navigation, typically referred to as “Web surfing” in the art, is well known as a mechanism enabling user access to server-stored electronic information pages on a navigable network such as the Internet network. A typical user navigating the Internet for example may have subscriptions to many password-protected Web sites that offer some form of service to the user. Examples of password-protected sites may include financial service sites such as investment, mortgage, and online banking sites, travel sites, certain entertainment and music sites, news service and information sites, and so on.
Typically, a user might have a variety of different passwords and/or personal identification numbers (PINs) that may be required to successfully log in to many of the types of sites described above. As a result, a user may frequently be required to enter login information as new password protected sites or pages are navigated to. A Web browsing session embarked to conduct a large chunk of Web business, for example, may involve several logins during one Internet session. Having to remember many passwords and PIN numbers can be problematic for a user. Often a same password or code cannot be used for every service, as another user may have already taken the password or code. A user may not wish to supply a code unique to the user such as a social security number because of security issues, including quality of security, which may vary from service to service. Additionally, many users at their own volition may choose different passwords for different sites so as to have increased security, which in fact also increases the number of passwords a user may have.
The inventor knows of a WEB service that allows a client to store multiple Web site links or list entries of Web sites, some or all of which may be password protected or otherwise secured as links in one network location. A feature of the above service allows a user to program certain tasks into the system such that a software agent of the system may execute tasks at the client's listed Web sites based on that client's instruction. Although not necessarily designed specifically for a bill-pay environment, this service may be used to aggregate a client's billing sites and may be used to automatically pay bills at those listed sites for the client. The service may be directed to store user password and login information for clients and may be configured to use that information to gain access to the clients' sites, thus enabling clients to navigate by proxy to disparate sites without having to manually input login or password codes in order to gain access to the sites.
The above-described service uses a portal server to present a user-personalized application that may be displayed as an interactive home page and that contains all of the clients' listed Web sites (provided as hyperlinks) for easy navigation. This approach combines a consolidation model and a direct billing model if applied to bill payment enabling certain benefits of both models.
For example, the above-described service enables bills to be paid through one interface and because the billing parties are linked to the Web portal, access to bill details and bill-pay confirmation notification is possible. However, a client must trust the service to keep all of the clients secure information for accessing the disparate billing parties and must trust the service with secure information for accessing any source accounts the client has approved through the service for bill payment. Moreover, if a client elects automated bill payment, the service may not provide the kind of detailed account information a client may wish to review, nor is it likely that the service would help in any way with any kind of dispute correspondence that may arise between a client and a billing party.
With exception to the aggregation service listed above and known to the inventor, typical bill consolidation services do not provide automated password login procedures. In general, payment of bills over the Internet using bill consolidation practices may take variant forms. One common form generally follows a typical bill-consolidation model. The conventional bill consolidation model is essentially a clearinghouse, where payment of bills may be accomplished at a single network location or portal. In general, the bill consolidator providing the bill-pay service retrieves a client's bills from participating third parties doing business with the client. In addition, the bill consolidator may also, in some cases, process bill payments on behalf of the client. In the case of bill payment services provided by a bank, for example, consolidated bills may be presented to the client and the client may provide instructions to the bank regarding where, when, and with what resources those bills should be paid. In such an example, typically only a resource account held at the bank may be eligible as a source account for bill payment.
In a direct billing model, there is a lack of bill consolidation services altogether. For example, individual billing parties may provide direct electronic bill-payment services through their own-hosted Web interfaces for clients. In the direct model the client may be required to maintain multiple billing party sites, passwords, personal identification numbers (PINs) and possibly software mechanisms in order to successfully pay bills online. In contrast to the consolidation model described above, in a direct model, benefits not typically offered in a consolidation model such as the ability to view detailed account information; the ability to receive instant bill-pay confirmation; the ability to dispute payment issues; and so on may be provided.
Although the service known to the inventor described further above could be used to aggregate a client's billing party Web sites and may also be used to aggregate the personal login usernames, passwords and PINs for use in automated login to the listed sites, a client may still be required to manually populate forms for bill payment, which may vary from site to site and confirm payment source-account information, and the like. If automated payment services are elected wherein the portal service, via software agent, automatically gains access to the site, populates forms with secure information and completes transactions on behalf of a client, there still may be problems associated with disputed amounts, level of bill details provided and so on. This is because the automation agent for navigation, login and form population is limited in scope to just what is required to complete simple transactions and to gather general summary information about accounts and services.
One challenge to providing such an aggregation service for payment of bills is continued maintenance requirements of client parameters and third-party service parameters including updates and the like. For example, billing parties may change forms, procedures, navigation paths, security procedures, and so on. Coordinated effort by clients and the consolidation service is critical for smooth operation and the amount of continued maintenance and updating tasks may be daunting for a service that handles many clients, thus forcing higher rates to clients when compared to typical consolidation services related to service charges or subscription fees.
Therefore, what is needed in the art is a system and method that solves the problems described above inherent to direct and consolidation billing models in a way that distributes work between the service and the client. A system such as this would facilitate higher-level communication and account information accessibility from each billing party while still enabling payment of bills to disparate parties through one electronic interface.